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Artist Interviews
Q&A: She Wants Revenge
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 18 May 2011
Formed in 2005, Californian darkwave duo She Wants Revenge is comprised of Adam Bravin and Justin Warfield. SWR’s eponymous debut album was released in early 2006 by Geffen subsidiary Perfect Kiss, with the video for second single ‘These Things’ starring Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson. Having toured with Depeche Mode and Placebo, the band released subsequent long-player ‘This Is Forever’ the following year, also collaborating with Timbaland on his 2007 track ‘Time’.
Having breathed new life into their new-wavish brand of post-punkery with latest single ‘Must Be The One’, the duo’s new album ‘Valleyheart’ is set to come out on 23 May. As they prepare to embark on a US tour in celebration of the forthcoming release date, we approached band member Adam wanting answers to our Same Six Questions
Q1 How did you start out making music?
After years of trying to work together, in 2004 we finally had the opportunity (thanks to a mutual friend) to see what would happen if we went in the studio together and collaborated on something. We began working on hip hop tracks, as that was a common language we knew we both shared, and spent months banging’ out beats and getting to know each other and each other’s musical likes and dislikes.
One day a friend named Kenna asked me if I would do a track for his second record. As a fan of his, I quickly got started on a track that was uptempo, dark and dancy, completely different from the type of tracks Justin and I had been doing at the time. I played it for Kenna over the phone once I had the basic structure of the song and he loved it. Justin came over that day and I played it for him. He said, “Don’t send it to Kenna yet, let me take it home and play some guitar on it and maybe add some vocals”. Of course I agreed, and when he came back the next day he had a song called ‘Black Liner Run’, which would become our first song as She Wants Revenge. Sorry Kenna.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Our newest album, ‘Valleyhear’, was inspired by the place we both were born and raised, the San Fernando Valley, just over the hill from Hollywood. We wanted to make a record that sounded like all the places we went to as kids, all the music we listened to growing up, all the girls we had crushes on, all the parties we went to, etc. All the feelings that we associate with all of these things contributed to the sound of our new record.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Normally, Justin picks up a guitar, I sit at a keyboard or grab a bass, and we come up with chord progressions to a simple drum beat one of us programs on the MPC 3000. An important thing we think about these days while writing is not repeating anything we’ve done before, so if something sounds or feels like something we’ve done, we stop and start over. Once we have the basic chord structure on the song, we record bass and guitar, and decide how we want to treat the song as far as drums and keys are concerned. Once that’s all done, Justin writes and records the lyrics.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
I can’t speak for Justin, but some of the artists that influence what I do, as it pertains to She Wants Revenge, are Tangerine Dream, Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis, Prince, Bach, Beethoven, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, The Cure and New Order.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Enjoy.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
We will continue to make honest music and hope that it reaches as many people as possible, and that they walk away with some sort of emotional response, no matter what it is.
MORE>> www.shewantsrevenge.com
